Erin Sparks
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erinsparks.bsky.social
Erin Sparks
@erinsparks.bsky.social
850 followers 410 following 33 posts
Faculty @ Mizzou & Danforth Center. Loves brace roots & biomechanics.
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Reposted by Erin Sparks
plantbiomechanics.bsky.social
We are excited to announce the Plant Biomechanics Webinar Series 2025!
🗓 Webinar #1: Thursday, 25 September 2025
🕑 Time: 14.00 – 15.40 (UTC+7)
🎙 Speakers:
Yamamoto M. Matsuo-Ueda R. Noviandi G.I. Hutabarat
📝 Registration: ugm.id/PBMweb1
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Webinar #1 Plant Biomechanics. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
Part of Webinar Series 2025 Road to The 11th International Plant Biomechanics Conference
ugm.id
September 22, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
roederlab.bsky.social
We learned a lot about plant cell wall mechanics by stretching the Arabidopsis epidermis. Now published in
‪@natcomms.nature.com‬ Fibrous network nature of plant cell walls enables tunable mechanics for development
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
August 28, 2025 at 2:44 AM
erinsparks.bsky.social
Excited for today’s #STLPlantFam25 Plant Science Family Reunion hosted by @39northstl.bsky.social. The joy of connecting with the STL plant fam is indescribable.
Image of the program cover for the family reunion event.
August 21, 2025 at 4:11 PM
erinsparks.bsky.social
plantbiomechanics.bsky.social Plant Biomechanics @plantbiomechanics.bsky.social · Feb 14
IMPORTANT: The 11th International Conference on Plantbiomechanics has been scheduled to 2026. Please take note!

The venue and host continues to be: Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
July 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
erinsparks.bsky.social
It was such an honor to coordinate this plenary! So much amazing science happening in Plant Biomechanics. Thanks to @radinbio.bsky.social, @geitmannlab.bsky.social, Naomi Nakayama, and Frank Telewski for sharing their work! #PlantBio2025
aspbofficial.bsky.social American Society of Plant Biologists @aspbofficial.bsky.social · Jul 27
Day 2 Biomechanics Plenary, Chaired by Erin Sparks @erinsparks.bsky.social, kicks off with "Evolution of Organellar Mechanosensing" by Ivan Radin @radinbio.bsky.social, showcasing his lab's testing how plant organelles perceive mechanical forces and adjust their morphology in response. #PlantScience
A person stands on a stage, speaking and gesturing with their hands. Behind them are curtains and large letters (ASPB). To the left is a podium, to the right is a person standing the in the background.
July 27, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
plantcellatlas.bsky.social
PCA Member Ivan Radin presented this morning at the 2025 ASPB Conference with his talk on "Evolution of Organellar Mechanosensing."

#PlantBio2025 @radinbio.bsky.social
A conference room with individuals sitting at tables in chairs facing a speaker on a stage. Behind the stage are green curtains and large, white letters that say 'ASPB.' On either side of the stage are large screens with the title of the talk, "Evolution of Organella Mechanosensing" projected onto them. A speaker stands in front of an audience. Behind him are green currents, and big block white letters that say 'ASPB.'
July 27, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
aspbofficial.bsky.social
ASPB Fellow Anja Geitmann presents "From microstructural features to macroscopic traits" exploring her lab's work to understand the hierarchical architectural concepts underpinning metabolic processes. @geitmannlab.bsky.social #plantscience #PlantBio2025
A person walks on a stage while talking and gesturing with their hands. To the right, there is a large speaker on a tripod. To the left in the background, there are large letters "SPB."
July 27, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
tatsuyanobori.bsky.social
Loved Naomi Nakayama’s talk-truly original research! #PlantBio2025
July 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
aribidopsis.bsky.social
#PlantBio2025

I am excited for my awesome grad student, Olivia @ohazel.bsky.social from @science.ubc.ca @ubcbotany.bsky.social presenting today at ASPB meeting in the poster session (unnumbered section).

Here is Olivia's 1st author preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
July 27, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
aribidopsis.bsky.social
We @ohazel.bsky.social @jessicaa-orr.bsky.social arrived in Wisconsin to attend the ASPB meeting. We are off to a great start here and had a great time hanging out with Erin @erinsparks.bsky.social today.

Thanks Erin for making the time.
July 26, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
cygnusplantxray.bsky.social
I'm off to ASPB #PlantBio2025 tomorrow, with a poster and talk on using X-ray imaging in Plant Biology. New soybean imaging to share, like this fly-through animation of the meristematic region from an XRM scan. @danforthcenter.bsky.social @zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social
July 25, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
gittacoaker.bsky.social
Congratulations @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social for your ASPB award. Well deserved! #PlantBio2025
July 26, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
briandilkes.bsky.social
The lab used our mutagen of choice, Ethyl methanesulfonate, and sequencing of somatic sectors to do some forward genetics in sorghum. Additional alleles in one generation to find and validate the gene! Something old, something new...

@genetics-gsa.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
Targeted seed EMS mutagenesis reveals a basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor underlying male sterility in sorghum
Abstract. Forward genetic screens of mutant populations are fundamental for functional genomics studies. However, isolating independent mutant alleles to m
academic.oup.com
July 10, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
maizegdb.bsky.social
New data from the Bob Schmitz lab (Marand 2025) on cell type-specific cis-regulation in maize! This study, in @science.org, reveals how DNA changes impact expression and maize traits. Explore the 176 new tracks on the browser under Epigenetics and DNA binding.

➡️ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The genetic architecture of cell type–specific cis regulation in maize
Gene expression and complex phenotypes are determined by the activity of cis-regulatory elements. However, an understanding of how extant genetic variants affect cis regulation remains limited. Here, ...
www.science.org
June 13, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
rebelscienceunion.bsky.social
🚨It's here!🚨
The Underground Journal Launched Today!
@lindzeamays.bsky.social is our first featured artist! Sign up to learn more about Lindsay's work as a science illustrator.

We are already accepting submissions for the next issue! So excited to see what you all create!
#sciart #scicomm
June 13, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
briandilkes.bsky.social
Make your own maize mutants! Raj Khangura, Norman Best and I contributed maize pollen and seed EMS mutagenesis protocols for the new maize handbook! Updated practices 1/n cshprotocols.cshlp.org/content/earl...
cshprotocols.cshlp.org/content/earl...
cshprotocols.cshlp.org/content/earl...
Uses and Opportunities for Ethyl Methanesulfonate Mutagenesis in Maize
cshprotocols.cshlp.org
June 9, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
jrossibarra.bsky.social
Reason number 4,517 (yes I'm counting) why @maizegdb.bsky.social is so awesome and we're so lucky as a community to have these folks. Also a great example of maize community sharing. UNPUBLISHED data already up on the community database showing conservation scores across the maize genome.
maizegdb.bsky.social MaizeGDB @maizegdb.bsky.social · Jun 6
We're excited to share PlantCAD browser tracks: a new, unpublished dataset integrating AI techniques for plant genome analysis. Explore it here: github.com/andorfc/Plan...
We welcome the community's feedback and innovative use cases for this data!
June 6, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
larry-spears.bsky.social
Thrilled that @10xgenomics.bsky.social is sponsoring the 6th Interdisciplinary #Plant Group Root (IPG) #Biology Symposium at Mizzou!

May 20-23, 2025

IPG is a community of researchers at at MU who are pursuing novel ideas in the field of plant biology!

link below!
ipg.missouri.edu/symposium/in...
2025 Symposium Information| Interdisciplinary Plant Group | University of Missouri
ipg.missouri.edu
May 20, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
aspbofficial.bsky.social
📣 #PlantBio2025 Plenary: Biomechanics.🌱 Learn more and register now! buff.ly/eAQJjVe

👉Advanced rates end June 10! Hurry and register soon for the best savings on the event you don’t want to miss. buff.ly/dtqtnUX

#PlantScience
May 14, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
aribidopsis.bsky.social
(1/15) We are happy to share the recent preprint from the lab, in a collaboration with Erin Sparks @erinsparks.bsky.social and Norman Best.

This story is focused on cell division and auxin in presence of one of the toxic metals, lead (Pb).

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
May 11, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
mc-caillaud.bsky.social
👀
May 2, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
kcox-bioguy.bsky.social
🌱🦠👩🏾‍🔬 Check out Shanice and her awesome work!
hhmi.org HHMI @hhmi.org · May 1
Plant health is essential to food security, yet pathogens continue to threaten crops worldwide. To better understand how disease takes hold—& how to stop them—HHMI Hanna Gray Fellow @shanice-webster.bsky.social is exploring the dynamic relationships among plants, microbes, & disease-causing agents.
Shanice Webster standing confidently in front of tall grasses with a greenhouse in the background.
May 2, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
plantaeofficial.bsky.social
Plant Science Research Weekly -- Firmly grounded: root system stiffness and plant mechanics (Journal of Experimental Botany) (Summary by Irene I. Ikiriko) buff.ly/HBp5OK5

#PlantaePSRW
Firmly grounded: Root system stiffness and plant mechanics | Plantae
Field-based technologies are essential for understanding plant mechanical behavior in field-relevant contexts. This behavior can be elastic, with temporary deformation measured as stiffness…
buff.ly
March 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
aribidopsis.bsky.social
(1/17) We are excited to share the Ashraf and Gallagher labs collaboration on cell cycle regulation during environmental stress recovery in Arabidopsis, Brachypodium, and ryegrass.
biorxiv-plants.bsky.social bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · Apr 6
Cell cycle follows pause and play mechanism in environment stress recovery in diverse plant species https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.02.646900v1
April 6, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Reposted by Erin Sparks
pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social
Latest paper from @philcarella.bsky.social lab! Pseudomonas viridiflava as a naturally occurring pathogens of Marchantia.

▶️ T3SS matters
▶️ conserved effectors for infection in angio and Marchantia

www.cell.com/current-biol...
Conserved effectors underpin the virulence of liverwort-isolated Pseudomonas in divergent plants
Robinson et al. identify pathogenic Pseudomonas viridiflava in wild Marchantia polymorpha liverworts and interrogate the mechanisms enabling virulence in non-flowering and flowering plants. Their resu...
www.cell.com
April 1, 2025 at 4:33 PM